There’s hardly an actor working today who wouldn’t sell his soul to Lord Voldemort for an enthusiastic endorsement from Martin Scorsese. Alas, that director’s apparent praise for a star of the “Harry Potter” film franchise has disappeared in a puff of smoke after Mr. Scorsese said he hadn’t seen any of those movies.

In a widelydisseminated report published in the British newspaper The Sun, Mr. Scorsese, the maker of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” was to have said he hoped to find a role for Rupert Grint, the 21-year-old actor who plays Ron Weasley in the Potter films.

“I would be interested in working with him,” Mr. Scorsese was quoted as saying. “I would have no issues in casting him as a gangster, he is a very talented young man.” The Sun report also quoted Mr. Scorsese as favorably comparing Mr. Grint to Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in Mr. Scorsese’s films “The Departed” and “Shutter Island,” among others.

But in a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Scorsese wrote, “With respect to the Harry Potter films, regrettably I’ve never seen them and therefore am not able to discuss them or the performances of the talent in them in any way.”

A call to a telephone number listed for The Sun at its Web site went unanswered on Tuesday morning, and an e-mail request for comment did not immediately yield a reply.